Descendants: Haunted Halloween Party
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Julie Skellington decides to help her Auradon friends with their Halloween party by bringing them to what could be the most haunted house in the world!
1. To The Mansion

**Here's a Halloween story I've always wanted to do! I was inspired by the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland for this story! Enjoy and Happy Halloween!**

 **And Happy Friday the 13th too!**

* * *

At Auradon Prep, Ben, Mal, Doug, Evie, and Jane, were trying to decide what to do for the Halloween dance. It was the night before Halloween and things weren't going exactly as planned.

After a science experiment of Evie and Doug's, an experiment of a new hair gel gone very, very wrong, the gym was covered in blue slime and was still under cleanup.

"There's got to be a place to have the Halloween dance." Ben said. "But where?"

"It has to be a place super scary!" Doug said. "Uh, but not too scary. I mean, something like-" Doug's face suddenly became twisted with horror and he let out a scream.

Everyone in earshot jumped a mile long.

"Sheesh, Doug! If you want to do sound effects, just ask!" Evie said.

"Uh, he's not screaming at us." Mal said. "He's screaming at her!"

Evie spun around and screamed even louder than Doug.

It was Julie Skellington, daughter of the Pumpkin King and ruler of Halloween, Jack Skellington. She was smiling and holding a jack-o-lantern with a scary carved face.

"Hey, you guys!" Julie greeted with great exuberance. "Happy Halloween! And good lung power!" she said, impressed. "You make great screamers!"

"Julie?! This is a surprise." Ben said. "What are you doing here? Did you consider my invitation to live here?"

"Well, actually, Ben, I'm not here to stay in Auradon." Julie said. "I did get your invite, but I can't leave Halloween Town." She smiled. "But I decided to visit you guys anyway!" She handed Ben the pumpkin. "This is for you!"

"Thanks," Ben said. "First time anyone's ever given me a jack-o-lantern."

Julie waved her bony finger. "It's not just any jack-o-lantern! It's haunted!"

Ben looked at the pumpkin and saw it's face glow green and hiss at him. Ben screamed and almost dropped it. "Uh, great...maybe we can use this for the Halloween dance."

Mal snapped her fingers. "BEN! That's it! Julie can help us with the Halloween dance!"

"Halloween dance?" Julie said in a curious manner. "Come to think of it, we've never had one of those before! Are you having it here?"

"That's the problem!" Evie said. "We can't use the gym and we don't have time to set it up outside! We need a new location!"

Julie scratched her chin bone. "Hmm, well, actually, I think know a place that I wanted to ask you about." She pulled out a old book from her bat shaped purse. "A haunted mansion called Gracey Manor."

"Did someone say haunted mansion?!" An excited Lonnie said as she, Jay and Carlos walked by.

Jay just scoffed. "Haunted mansion? Really?"

"Really!" Julie pointed to the book. "My daddy says it's here in Auradon! Do you know about it, Ben?"

"Actually I have." Ben said. He looked a bit nervous. "And I heard it is haunted. Very haunted."

"You don't really believe in ghosts, do you?" Jay asked Ben.

"Huh? What kind of question is that?" Julie questioned. "Everyone knows ghosts are real!"

"And there is such a thing as magic." Mal added. "So, ghosts could be a distinct possibility."

Lonnie looked excited. "Well, I'm intrigued! Let's check out this haunted mansion!"

"Yay!" Julie clapped her hands together.

"Uh, how about no?" Carlos suggested.

Julie started pouting. "Come on, guys! It'll be fun! Life's no fun without a good scare!"

"Julie's right. I'm going." Lonnie said.

"Same here." Mal said. "Who knows? It'll be interesting."

Evie shrugged. "I'm in too. This is for the dance."

Lonnie curved a smile. "You big, strong chickens don't have to come. We damsels can handle this."

"Hey! Who says we're chicken?!" Jay snapped. "I'm going too!" He grabbed Carlos and Doug. "We're all going!"

Carlos and Doug went pale.

Ben held his girlfriend's hand. "There's no way I'm letting you go alone, Mal."

"But I won't be alone." Mal said. "I've got Evie, Lonnie, and-

"I know, but...I want to go with you." Ben admitted.

"Awwwww!" Julie cooed. "How romantic!"

Jay cringed. "Now that's scary..."

"Alright! We leave at night!" Julie announced.

"What?! Why night time?!" Doug asked nervously. "Why can't we go now when there's daylight?!"

"Because ghosts don't show up in the daytime." Julie said matter of factly. "If we're lucky, we'll see the ghosts that haunt the mansion!"

"Who says we're seeing any ghosts?!" Doug blurted out.

"Relax, Doug. There won't be any ghosts." Ben said.

"Yeah, there will." Julie said. "You'll see! This is gonna be great!"

The kids were a bit put off by Julie's morbid enthusiasm.

* * *

With the sun set and night has risen, everyone piled into the limousine. The trip to Gracey Manor began.

"I'm so excited!" Julie squealed. "This is going to be the most horrible Halloween yet!"

Jane scooted closer to Carlos. "And that's what I'm afraid of."

Julie slapped her on the back. "That's the spirit, Jane!"

"Uh, she's afraid in a bad way." Ben said. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course." Julie patted her black book. "In here is a list of ghosts that occupy the mansion. I got it from my family's library."

Doug swallowed. "That's a big book..."

The limousine pulled in front of the old wrought iron gates. "We're here!" Julie was the first to jump out, the others calmly followed carrying boxes of decorations.

"Everyone remember the plan we talked about?" Julie reminded them.

Everyone nodded.

"Good!" Julie clapped her hands together.

"Whoa..." Mal and all her friends stared in amazement of Gracey Manor. It much more massive and imposing than they expected. It was a three story tall gothic nightmare with grayish, white columns in the porch, green balconies and dark windows that seemed to tease the kids with curiosity. Next to the house was a garden filled with withered flowers and gravestones.

It would make any Auradonian run in terror.

Jane gulped. "Great. They have dead people in the yard..."

"It's glorious!" Julie said, breath-taken.

"It's something alright." Jay said. "But I don't think 'glorious' is the word..."

"Scared?" Lonnie said with a smirk.

"NO!" Jay barked. "Let's just get this over with!"

The gang walked down the stone brick path. Ben was impressed by how Julie could keep a smiling face.

"You sure are pumped about this, aren't you?" Ben asked Julie.

"Sure am!" Julie said. She went up the steps and opened the ancient door. Everyone walked closely together as they walked inside.

The kids were surrounded by darkness. Julie went to a light switch and turned on a giant antique chandelier above their heads.

"Alrighty! Let's start setting things up!" Julie announced rather loudly, her voice echoing. "We'll split up and decorate it for the big party! Ben, Mal, Doug, Evie will cover the upstairs. Jay, Lonnie, Carlos and Jane will take of things downstairs."

Everyone took their decorations they needed and went their separate ways.

* * *

Jay sighed as he took out plastic pumpkins and skeletons. Lonnie decided to find out he was being a downer. "What's the matter, Tough guy?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea having the party here." Jay said.

"I'm with Jay." said Carlos. "Right, Jane?" He looked around. "Jane?!"

Carlos saw Jane staring at a hallway. She was white as a sheet.

Carlos, Jay, and Lonnie looked down the hallway Jane was staring at.

There, down the hall, was a floating candelabra gliding towards them.

Jane immediately panicked and ran away down a different hallway.

"JANE! WAIT!" Carlos called as he, Jay, and Lonnie followed them.

Meanwhile, Evie and Doug were exploring the attic. Evie was fascinated by the old antiques among the dust and cobwebs. There was furniture, teacups, dead flowers, but the most interesting of all, portraits of beautiful brides being married to their handsome husbands.

"This place is amazing!" Evie said in awe. "It's like stepping back in time!"

"No, it's creepy." Doug said. "I'm okay with living in the present."

Evie smiled and put her arm through Doug's. "But look at these beautiful perennials and couples happily married. Doesn't that give you any ideas?" She cooed, batting her sultry dark eyes.

Doug blushed terribly. "Uh, well, I, um..." But his face lost it's color when he noticed something strange. "Evie, t-t-the pictures..."

Evie turned and saw the portraits lying around and noticed what Doug noticed.

The brides in the portraits were the exact same woman. And the grooms were missing their heads...

Suddenly, a piano in the corner began to play slowly. The sound of a heart beating filled the room.

 _"I do!"_ a voice shouted, making Evie and Doug jump.

 _"I do?"_

 _"I do..."_

 _"I do! Hahahaha!"_

Evie and Doug huddled close together, fear gripping their bodies.

 _"In sickness and in...wealth..."_ a chilling voice came from behind.

Slowly turning around, the two teens came face to face with a glowing white figure in a wedding dress and veil. In her hands was a shiny, sharp axe. The ghostly bride gave a twisted smile and heaved the weapon over her head...

"RUN!" Doug screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Evie shouted in terror as she and Doug ran out of the attic.


	2. Calling All Ghosts

Julie, Ben and Mal explored a hallway upstairs when they heard faint sounds of screaming.

"That's concerning." said Ben.

"It's okay, Ben. It must have been the ghosts." Julie said. "Horrified shrieks are great for scaring! Or maybe it was our friends screaming! They must having lots of fun!"

Mal and Ben were stunned. Julie's casual behavior was unlike anything they've ever seen. Well, when you're a living skeleton, you're used to spooks and surprises.

Julie opened a door. "Ah! Here's the bathroom!"

Mal and Ben peeked inside and it was the most dismal bathroom they've ever seen.

There was grime in the cracks of the tile floor, a dirty, broken window, dust and the smell of mildew filled the air, and the spider webs in the corners were unsettlingly disgusting.

"Okay, I'm from the Isle of the Lost and this is some nasty stuff..." Mal said with a cringe.

Julie opened her book. "I wonder if any ghosts hang out here." She skimmed through the pages.

"I don't think ghosts would haunt a bathroom." Ben said.

"Oh, how little you understand ghosts, Mal. They appear where you least expect them, element of surprise is another useful scare tool." Julie opened her book and pointed to a page. "According to this, this is where Captain Culpepper Clyne met his end."

"In a bathroom?" Mal questioned.

"Yep. Says right here." Julie cleared her throat. "Here floats Captain Culpepper Clyne. Allergic to dirt so he's pickled in brine. He braved the sea and all her wrath. But drowned on land while taking a bath."

Mal and Ben felt very uncomfortable.

"That's ridiculous." Mal said, trying to push that morbid rhyme out of her head.

"Let's just move along." Ben said.

Julie shrugged. "Okay, if you say so." She and Mal left. Ben was about to follow them until he heard an odd noise from behind.

"Ah, ah, AH!...Ahhhh..."

Ben looked over and peeked into the ancient bathtub. For some reason, it was full of water.

"ACHOO!"

Water sprayed all over Ben's face. He yelped as he stumbled out of the bathroom. "WAIT FOR ME!"

* * *

Downstairs, Jane was almost out the door when Jay stopped her. "Jane! You need to-" But when jay looked up, he nearly choked on his own scream.

Carlos and Lonnie caught up to them. "Jay!" said Lonnie. "What's-" She moved her eyes to the ceiling and her face went blank. "...up?"

Carlos and Jane looked up and saw ghosts. Many white, see-through ghosts floating around the ceiling, swinging on the dusty chandelier, laughing and drinking at the dining room table.

There were ghosts everywhere.

The ghosts stopped what they were doing and slowly turned to the four humans. Then they swooped down and began waltzing with the teens!

A ghost playing a pipe organ began playing his haunting refrain as the ghosts sang along;

 _"When the crypt doors creak  
And the tombstones quake  
Spooks come out for a singing wake  
Happy haunts materialize  
And begin to vocalize  
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!_

 _Now don't close your eyes  
And don't try to hide  
Or a silly spook may sit by your side  
Shrouded in a daft disguise  
They pretend to terrorize  
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!_

 _As the moon climbs high o'er dead oak tree  
Spooks arrive for the midnight spree  
Creepy creeps with eerie eyes  
Start to shriek and harmonize  
Grim grinning ghosts come out socialize!"_

Jay, Lonnie, Carlos, and Jane eventually freed themselves and took off running.

Back upstairs, Ben was trying to convince Mal what he had just happened.

"I'm telling you! This place is haunted!" Ben said, his face wet. "The bathtub sneezed at me!"

Mal was motionless. "I'm just going to stare at you blankly."

"I don't think he's making this up, Mal." said Julie. "Ben wouldn't make up something like that if it weren't true, right?"

Mal blinked. The skeleton did have a point.

"Besides, that must have been great, Ben! You sure are lucky!"

"What's so lucky about a ghost sneezing in your face?" Mal asked. "In fact, this whole haunted house business, you're actin good like it's no big deal!"

Julie chuckled. "Mal, don't you see? There's nothing better than good scares on Halloween! Imagine how boring Halloween would be without scares! And I know humans aren't used to ghosts and spooks. But once you get used to them, they're actually really fun!"

Suddenly, a new sound came to Mal's ears. It sounded like crying.

"Is someone crying?" Ben said, hearing the faint sobs.

"Hmmm, maybe one of our friends got too scared and couldn't handle it." Mal guessed.

"No, that's not scared crying." Julie said, listening carefully. "It's sad crying. Let's check it out!" She followed the sound.

"Wait up!" Ben said. He and Mal chased the skeleton girl.

"Julie! I don't think you should follow that crying!" Mal called out.

"We have to!" Julie said, excited. "Onto the next scare!"

Ben sighed. "There really is nothing that scares you, huh?"

"Of course there is!" said Julie. "It's passing up a good scare!" She grabbed Ben's hand. "Let's go!"


	3. Happy Haunts

Julie, Mal, and Ben were closing in on the crying sounds. They came to one of the bedrooms and heard distinct sobbing.

Julie reached out to knock on the door, but a white, transparent head came through the door.

"GHOST!" Mal cried out. Ben shrieked and fell on his behind.

The ghost was a weeping bride with a glowing red heart that was beating in the middle of her chest. She gasped in surprise seeing two humans and a skeleton.

"Oh! Sorry to startle you, Ma'am!" Julie said politely.

"Startle her?!" said Ben, getting up. "She startled us!"

"Just leave me alone!" the ghostly bride sobbed. She buried her face in her hands. "No one shouldn't bother with a worthless ghost like me!"

"Worthless?! Don't say that!" Julie skimmed through her book and found the ghost in one of the pages. "You must be Emily. You're famous!"

"Famous?" Emily said, holding back her tears. "Me?"

Julie nodded. "Yeah! You've been at the mansion longer than anyone!"

"Tell that to Constance!" Emily sniffled.

"Constance?" Julie found her page. "As in Constance Hatchaway?! The black widow bride?!"

"That's right! Ever since that witch moved in, she's taken over my hauting space in the attic! I was going to scare these two intruders up there! I had them going with my beating heart, but Constance pulled me through the wall and stole my scare!" Emily resumed her miserable crying.

"Oh, there, there." Julie cooed. "Don't be sad. You just need to stand up for yourself, Emily."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The trio jumped when they heard the familiar scream.

"I think that was Doug!" Mal said.

"That can't be good!" Ben said. The gang following the sounds of shrieks of terror. Emily followed them too.

Jane, Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie were running at full force back into the foyer. They stopped to regain their breath. Jay actually dropped to his knees.

"You alright, Jay?" asked Lonnie, kneeling beside her friend.

Jay said nothing. He just collected his breath.

 _'He must have been really scared.'_ Lonnie thought. "It's okay, Jay. I don't blame you. Those ghosts were pretty scary!"

Jay got back on his feet and gave Lonnie a defiant look. "I was not-"

"Cut the tough guy act out, will ya?" said Lonnie. "Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of."

"She's right." Jane said, nervously looking around and rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. "W-When you're terrified, it's impossible to keep it inside!"

Carlos spotted Doug and Evie running for their lives. "Yeah! Just ask them!"

"WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Doug shouted. "A GHOST BRIDE TRIED TO CUT MY HEAD OFF!"

"And her dress was hideous!" Evie shrieked.

Everyone turned to the Evil Queen's daughter.

"Really? Her dress? That's what terrified you back there?!" Doug questioned incredulously. "Not the big, sharp axe that'll hack us to pieces?!"

"Here comes the bride!"

All the kids screamed when they saw the axe-wielding bride gliding toward them.

And it wasn't just her.

The ghostly bride was accompanied by the several grim grinning ghosts from the ballroom.

Ben and Mal came downstairs. "Guys!" said Ben. "There are real ghosts in-" Je froze his words when they saw all the ghosts.

"ACHOO!"

Ben spun around and screamed when he saw the ghoulish ghost of a sea captain soaked to the bone. His eyes were dull and sunken, his face waterlogged, and his nose quite drippy.

"C-Captain Culpepper Clyne?!" Ben stuttered.

The ghost nodded before letting out another phlegmy sneeze. Ben dodged the wad of bath water snot in time. The wall was splattered with slimy bath water.

"Ugh! Ghost snot!" Mal gagged.

The ghosts surrounded the humans. They were trapped.

"So, what shall we do with these foolish mortals?" asked a ghost carrying a hat box.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" a voice thundered through the room.

The ghosts and humans spun around to see Emily. The ghosts were taken back by the usually shy ghost's unusual outburst.

"These humans mean us no harm!" Emily said, her hands put confidently on her hips.

"She's right." Julie Skellington said, standing beside Emily.

The ghosts gasped in awe and immediately bowed before the young skeleton.

"The Pumpkin Princess!" the ghosts exclaimed.

"Please excuse us your grace!" said Constance, dropping her axe before bowing to Julie.

Julie raised her hand. "Forgive our intrusion, fellow spooks. I, Julie Skellington and my friends have come to request to have a Halloween party in our home. You can all be the ghosts of honor! You can haunt our guests for fun!"

"Haunt our guests?!" Ben said.

"That's not a bad idea! ACHOO!" said Captain Clyne.

"A real haunted house will bring in crowd and give everyone a good scare! I love it!" said the Hat box ghost.

"Alright, everyone! Let's get cracking! Our guests will be here tonight!" Julie said.

The ghosts for busy and began decorating faster than you can say 'boo'. Things came together better than the Auradonians expected.

"Something tells me you knew all these ghosts would take your side, didn't you?" Mal asked Julie.

"Of course!" Julie grinned. "We Skellingtons are considered royalty to ghosts. It's a cultural thing."

"You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?" said Evie.

"What? And spoil all the spooky good fun?!" Julie said joyfully. "You have to admit, you all had a good scare here at the haunted mansion."

The gang thought about it. It was fun. Scary, but fun. They smiled and voiced their agreements.

* * *

Night had fallen and all the Auradon Prep students and staff had arrived. They all screamed seeing all the ghosts. Thankfully, Julie was there to calm them down and explain everything.

The guests were still wary until some of the ghosts began playing in a band. Their fears dissipated and the party began. The guests were treated with friendly scares and ghastly greetings courtesy of the mansion ghosts.

Emily had just finished scaring away a couple of people with her ghostly wails. She smiled, proud of her successful spook.

"Hey, Emily."

The ghost turned and saw her rival, Constance. Instead of her her demented smile, she wore a friendly, non-threatening smile. "Not bad standing up for the humans. For a crybaby ghost, you're pretty tough."

"I am?!" Emily blinked her glowing eyes in surprise.

"You bet she is!" Julie said, putting a hand on Emily's shoulder. "She even spooked my friends pretty good without even trying! That's how frightening she can be!"

"Really?!" Constance was genuinely surprised. "I guess I was wrong about you, Emily."

"I'm sure you and Emily will make a great team haunting this house together!" Julie suggested.

The brides voiced their agreements and began haunting the guests together.

"Great job, Julie." Ben said, who saw the whole thing. "You've made this Halloween party a success."

"Anything for you guys. You're my friends." Julie said. "There's just one thing, Ben. How come you're not wearing a costume?"

To Julie's confusion, Ben smiled. "Don't need one."

At that moment, a few ghosts decided to sneak up on Ben. They came close, eager to scare the young king when Ben spun around and,

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOARRRRR!" Ben let out a thunderous, beastly roar. It sounded just as terryfing as his father back when he was a beast.

The ghosts screamed in terror and flew away.

Julie stared in awe! Ben, a human, just turned the tables on the ghosts!

"Sometimes it's okay to bring out your inner monster." Ben said with a shrug.

"That was AWESOME!" Julie squealed. "Very scary!"

"Yeah, who knew you had it in you?" Mal said. She was dressed as a vampire with a long, dark purple dress.

"I guess being with you brings out my wild side." Ben took Mal's hand. "How about a dance?"

Mal smiled and took the king's hand. "About time you asked."

As she watched her friends dance the night away, Julie was elated to see a job well done. "Another successful Halloween!"

One of the ghosts offered to dance with Julie and she happily agreed.

It was the best Halloween yet for Julie Skellington.


End file.
